Health Education Plan of Atlantic City - Assignment Example

Health Education Plan Introduction Developing education plans for health and wellbeing of the communities has long been attaining major attention of the scholars throughout the decades. Communities surrounding different developed, developing or underdeveloped countries are often witnessed to undergo major hurdles especially the elderly people to acquire appropriate support for their health and wellness. In this regard, special health education programs conduct by different community healthcare centers and governmental agencies have been playing a major role for this segment of population to make continuous improvement of their health and wellbeing (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009). In this regard, the primary aim of this assignment is to build a component educational plan for improving the health and wellbeing of the elderly aged population present in the Atlantic City. Throughout the different parts of this assignment, the discussion includes the portrayal of diverse strategic frameworks and practice guidelines that can stimulate elderly aged population in Atlantic City to gain adequate understanding about the best way to maintain their health and wellness. The health education plan also tends to provide effective programs to promote health education activities for elderly aged population using different interactive promotional tools. Identification of Specific Health Promotion Need Health Promotion Need Based on the assessment of the current health promotion needs in Atlantic City, certain areas can be apparently identified that experience major deficiencies while promoting the prevention of health problems for the elderly population segment (New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, 2010). The health promotion need chosen in this particular study is to increase adequate control as well as improving the health and wellbeing of elderly population in the Atlantic City. Scope of the Need Need of increasing control over health and wellbeing of the elderly population involves a wide number of scopes for a particular community. In the context of Atlantic City, the need of controlling health and wellbeing of the elderly population includes a major set of scope. In this context, the need of understanding control of health problems specifically of the elderly population can be ascertained as following policy guidelines and conducting health promotion programs (City of Atlantic City Health Department, 2012). Moreover, lowering the number of population that actually affected due to health related problems amid the older adults can also be duly considered as a major scope of the need. This is owing to the fact that bringing changes in the policies and educating community members to control over the health and wellbeing of elderly population can lower the number of potentially affected elderly person in Atlantic City. In addition, the need of controlling health and wellbeing of the elderly population can also help Atlantic City, New Jersey (NJ) community to avert the major risk of economic burden. In this regard, it has been witnessed that the community face increasing costs due to inappropriate health condition of the people especially the elderly groups in Atlantic City (City of Atlantic City Health Department, 2012). Therefore, it is evident that the community bears a large amount of wealth due to the persistence of severe health complexities amid this segment of population, which brought about a major economic loss for each household in Atlantic City. Describing the Priority and Rationale of Selecting the Problem The promotion of increasing control of the health and wellbeing of the elderly age population can bring a major attention of the community members towards improving their physical and psychological conditions in the community. In this regard, it is one of the key areas to be prioritized while promoting health education program (Clarke, n.d.). Correspondingly, the areas across Atlantic City have long been witnessed to face a major challenge due to the increasing number of health issues of elderly population. The problem is also observed to have significant influence on the growth or development of the community. Therefore, the refurbishment of a promotional need will certainly aid in controlling the health and wellbeing of the above discussed segment of population within Atlantic City, NJ Community (City of Atlantic City Health Department, 2012). Identifying Age Specific Health Risks or Needs In relation to the report “Healthy People 2020”, increasing the proportion of older adults including male and female aged 65 years or older who are updated with the key set of clinical services for preventing health related problems can be regarded as one of the major objectives of the initiative (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Therefore, the health risks associated with this age group of older adults may include unstable physical activity or inappropriate psychological conditions. Moreover, the population segment is also identified to get involved with major risks resulting from different chronic diseases that severely deteriorate their physical and psychological improvement. In addition, a majority of the elderly population are likely to face psychological syndromes such as dementia and other acute diseases than other age groups in the Atlantic City. Therefore, developing effective promotion of health education for this group of population is one of the major concerns for the community to promote health and wellbeing in an effective manner (Kececi & Bulduk, 2012). Overview of the Population Necessitating Health Promotion Need It is worth mentioning that the health promotion need is mainly for the population aged 65 years or older residing within Atlantic City, NJ community. According to the present scenario of the health conditions in this particular community, it can be found that the elderly people have been undergoing major complexities that eventually hampering their health and wellbeing. Apart from this, the aforesaid population is identified to face major health related issues that resulted in weakening the annual household income of the community (Anderson & McFarlane, 2000). Identifying Factors Leading to Affect Learning or Barriers The key factors that impose major impact on promoting control of health and wellness of elderly people can be characterized into a few major deficiencies. In this context, physical disability, sensory losses, visual and hearing deficiencies and mental illness of the elderly population can be duly considered as a set of barriers of health promotion program in Atlantic City, NJ community(Clarke, n.d.). Establishment of Health Education Outcomes The appropriate health education outcomes based on which the health promotion need will be developed have been depicted in the following: Encouraging the community members of Atlantic City, NJ Community to develop self-improvement skills of the elderly population Improving the number of participants towards promoting health and wellbeing of the community members Generating greater awareness in the community about the basic practice of promoting healthcare control within the elderly population In accordance with the above depicted possible outcomes of the health promotion need program, it can be ascertained that attempts have been made to improve the physical and the psychological stability of the older adults aged 65 or more. Therefore, the outcomes of the proposed health education need program will be highly focused on improving health and wellbeing of the population up to 20%, as compared to the current ratio. The behaviors of the group i.e. the elderly people belonging to Atlantic City, NJ Community are anticipated to highly comply with a cooperative nature, which may result in enhancing their health and well being. Moreover, the health education group will also focus on maintaining a shared objective of increasing control of the health and wellbeing of the elderly population in the community (Joslin, 2013). One of the health indicators that are likely to be changed includes the health as well as wellbeing state of the target population i.e. the elderly population in Atlantic City. In this regard, increasing self-reported health as well improved human functions such as physical and mental activities of the target population within the city (Seaward, 2008). Designing the Health Educational Plan Description of the Health Education Plan The primary aim of the proposed health educational program will be to increase the control of health and wellbeing of the elderly population in Atlantic City, NJ Community. Populaces, especially the people of elderly aged group in the Atlantic City of New Jersey have experienced numerous complexities due to which their health conditions deteriorated by a considerable extent. In relation to the recent statistics of the city, the elderly population in the US has been facing major challenges while performing their daily physical activities. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the older adult Americans often experience numerous health hazards due to their inconsistent functional status, which emerged because of diminishing immunization capability. Moreover, it can also be found that this particular group is more likely to face unstable psychological wellbeing as compared to other groups prevailing in the nation (Seaward, 2008). In relation to the above scenario observed in Atlantic City, NJ Community, agencies and institutions from both publicly and privately held organizations are often recognized to play an essential role for the elderly population. The health educational programs of the agencies and institutions are more likely to improve the physical and psychological wellbeing of this segment of population. However, the area i.e. Atlantic City is also identified to have major flaws in terms of promoting the continuous development of educating old age people to learn adequate guidelines for improving their health and psychological conditions. In this regard, enabling community members to increase appropriate control and improving the physical as well as psychological wellbeing of the elderly population can be regarded as the major promotional needs in Atlantic City, NJ Community (Joslin, 2013). Outline of the Proposed Health Education Program In accordance with the aims of the proposed health education program, the planning phases will mainly include key activities that can enable to assess and evaluate the current health improvement promotion process in the Atlantic City. Therefore, the outline of the proposed health education plan has been developed in alignment with the stages of PRECEDE-PROCEED model. A brief overview of the outline developed for the health education program has been provided hereunder. Social diagnosis Epidemiological diagnosis Behavioral and environmental diagnosis Educational diagnosis Operational or policy making diagnosis Implementation evaluation Progress assessment Impact assessment and Result assessment Implementation of the Health Education Plan The implementation stage can be duly considered as one of the key stages of the health education plan, which will be applied to the elderly populaces belonging to Atlantic City, NJ Community. Based on the assessment of health educational needs and predetermined program outcomes, the health education plan for the elderly group of population in Atlantic City will significantly focus on complying with a strategic methodology. In order to critically obtain the desired outcomes, the health education plan will centrally focus on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model. The above stated model has been mainly selected, as it tends to offer a comprehensive and systematic planning process, which is more likely to empower an individual or group with the understanding of motivational aspects and self-improvement skills (Ransdell, 2001). Moreover, the PRECEDE-PROCEED model also helps in engaging community based programs for enhancing quality of life and wellbeing of the population. In addition, improving functional status along with health related literacy activities can also be duly regarded as a set of major attributes that can enable in obtaining the desired outcomes of the proposed health education plan for Atlantic City (Aldiabat & Navenec, 2013; Clarke, n.d.). Evaluation of Educational Effectiveness Assessing the Effectiveness of the Health Education Plan In order to critically assess the effectiveness of the proposed health education plan, an in-depth understanding and evaluation of PRECEDE-PROCEED model can be duly accepted to provide major insights for developing health and wellbeing of the elderly population in Atlantic City. According to PRECEDE-PROCEED model, the framework includes nine major stages that address diagnostic, implementation and evaluation of the proposed health education program for the elderly population in Atlantic City. The flow of activities that are generally performed in each stage of the model has been detailed through the following illustration: Fig.1: PRECEDE-PROCEED Model Source: (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2014) The Precede phase in the model significantly defines the outcomes to be achieved by the plan and assessment areas that are highly essential to obtain the same. In relation to the proposed plan, the proceed phase of the model describes five types of assessment stages that entail social, epidemiological, environmental or behavioral, educational and operational process in the context of promoting health and wellbeing of the elderly population in Atlantic City. On the other hand, the Proceed phase in the model determines the stages associated with evaluation and implementation processes of the health education plan for elderly population in Atlantic City. The stages involved in the Proceed phase of the proposed plan includes implementation of the program, progress evaluation of each activity, identifying the impact of the program and evaluating the results that are obtained from the implementation of the health education plan for elderly population in the city. The following discussion details about the health education plan in line with the theoretical implications of PRECEDE-PROCEED model. Stage 1 - Social Diagnosis: The assessment generally involves identifying self-determined needs of the target population and identifies required resources and barriers in the community of Atlantic City. Stage 2 - Epidemiological Diagnosis: The assessment generally helps in determining the current health problems of the elderly population residing within Atlantic City, NJ community and identifying the risk factors such as socio-demographic condition, educational background and different ecological factors faced by this target group of population. Stage 3 - Behavioral and Environmental Diagnosis: The process in the proposed health education program generally focuses on diagnosing specific behaviors and environmental aspects designed for the plan to be addressed. Stage 4 - Educational or Organizational Diagnosis: The assessment process will focus on analyzing predisposing factors such as cultural beliefs, knowledge or skills and attitude of the elderly population in Atlantic City, NJ Community. Moreover, the stage will also emphasize enabling policy measures along with supportive activities and reinforcing conditions that have major influence on the behaviors of the populaces. Stage 5 - Operational or Policy Making Diagnosis: The stage will focus on analyzing required resources to promote the needs of health education program in Atlantic City. Moreover, the stage will also include analyzing potential barriers that might have negative impact on the proposed plan. Stage 6 - Implementation: The stage significantly outlines the key activities to be performed for promoting health education amid the elderly population in Atlantic City. It also prioritizes the activities in accordance with their nature that can enable to effectively achieve the desired outcomes of the proposed plan. Stage 7 - Progress Assessment: During this stage, the activities performed in the implementation process will be examined regarding their progress in educating older adults in Atlantic City. In this stage, the health education programs will be evaluated and the barriers or problems will be addressed through using different analytical tools such as Pilot Testing. Stage 8 - Impact Assessment: The stage will focus on determining and assessing the immediate effects of each health education activity. Moreover, identification of major environmental factors that have major influence on the program will also be a major activity of this stage. Stage 9 - Result Assessment: The result assessment or evaluation process will help to determine long as well as and short-term impact of the health education plan and set future goals to improve the health and wellbeing of the elderly population in Atlantic City. Evaluating Outcomes of the Proposed Health Education Plan Outcome 1: The health promotion education program for elderly population will certainly encourage the community members of Atlantic City to develop self-improvement skills of the elderly population. In accordance with the aforesaid outcome of the plan, a critical assessment of the impacts derived from the health education program will enable in determining the stated outcome. The evaluation of the impacts will certainly help to identify changes in behavior and attitude along with beliefs of the target population. Outcome 2: The education program will assist the number of participants towards promoting health control of health and wellbeing of community members. In this context, the process of identifying progresses obtained by the elderly population in Atlantic will significantly enable to increase the number of participants in the proposed health education plan. Moreover, recognizing and addressing each potential barriers will also help the health education program to substantially increase its numbers of members across the Atlantic City. Outcome 3: Awareness in the community regarding the basic practice of promoting healthcare control of the elderly population. The outcome of increasing awareness of the community members will determined through the evaluation of the results obtained from the progress of the activities performed in the health education program. The evaluation of the results and setting future goals to improve health and wellbeing of the elderly populaces will substantially increase the awareness of the community members. With due regards to the aforesaid activities to be performed in the plan, the integration of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model can be duly accepted as a major factor for developing health education plan of elderly population in Atlantic City. The process of critical assessment as well as implementation and evaluation of variables discussed in both ‘PRECEDE’ and ‘PROCEED’ phases might enable in attaining desired outcomes of the proposed education plan. Specific Health Indicators or Behaviors to be used to Assess Learning The health indicators specified to be used include physical and psychological disability of the elderly population in the Atlantic City within the community of New Jersey. The health indicators such as physical and mental disabilities that impose major health issues for the older adult population will be dully considered in order to promote health education program in this respective location. Describing Other Necessary Services to Reduce Risk in this Population Group Although the proposed health education plan can help in promoting self-improvement elderly population, there are certain other services that can also play essential role for developing a successful health education program. In this regard, conducting programs for daily physical exercise along with providing healthy dietary instruction can also reduce health risks on this particular segment of population. In addition, promoting engagement of this population group in different social activities and encouraging their participation in health educational processes would also help in lessening the physical and mental disability rate of the elderly population in Atlantic City. Conclusion In relation to the current community based healthcare education programs, Atlantic City, NJ Community has been obtaining various types of healthcare programs and initiatives for enhancing the health and wellbeing of the population. Although the community is observed to attain major growth in terms of conducting effective healthcare activities, it faces significant problem in promoting adequate health education initiatives for the elderly or aged population than the other communities prevailing across the wide NJ community. Therefore, the proposed health education plan for the elderly population in Atlantic City, NJ Community can provide a major assistance in promoting health and wellbeing of the older adult population residing within this community. References Aldiabat, K. M., & Navenec, C. L. L. (2013). Developing smoking cessation program for older Canadian people: an application of Precede-Proceed model. American Journal of Nursing Science, 2(3), 33-39. Anderson, E. T., & McFarlane, J. M. (2000). Community as partner. New Jersey: Lippincott. City of Atlantic City Health Department, (2012). Healthy people and healthy community: Annual report 2012. 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